Re: D&D 5th Edition: Thread #7

And as for the people who are saying "All maneuvers should give you something new that you can do, not just boost your numbers," I am inclined to agree initially, but I have two questions:

Should that include any "default" maneuvers that are granted at Level 1, a la Deadly Strike? Or is it ok if those maneuvers just increase numbers?

How would such a system accommodate the player base that WotC is worried about who like to play super-simple characters that don't have to make very many decisions during combat?

- Hmm, sure. Adding numbers might be boring, but at least it's always useful. I can get behind having an always-useful option to spend dice on in those situations where otherwise they'd just go to waste. I would, however, add the caveat that we should be careful not to make these pluses-only maneuvers too good, such that it's always a better idea to use them instead of the more interesting ones. This is the same problem magic items have with the +X Sword of Pointyness: No matter how awesome the other effects are, that +X is so good and important that it's never worth sacrificing, so magic items become more boring as a whole simply for their inclusion.

- Well, you all know my opinion on that matter is just to introduce the Spectator class and be done with it. I think designing a combat-heavy RPG like D&D while considering people who don't like combat will get you as far as trying to write a book that appeals to people who hate reading.